And They Said it Couldn't Be Done
by Evangeline Henri
Summary: When the digidestined get together to throw a surprise party for Ken, everything and anything can happen. (Taito, Daikeru, Kensuke, Kenkeru)
1. Chivalry Isn't Dead

"The Dinner Party"  
  
By: Evangeline Henri  
  
Rating: PG-13  
  
Summary: When the digidestined get together to throw a surprise  
party for Ken, everything and anything can happen. Various yaoi  
pairings abound, including a love triangle between TK, Ken, and   
Davis. And with some Taito thrown in there for good luck.  
  
Archives: I'd be honored, just tell me first.  
  
Dedication: To the beautiful island of Saint Croix, AKA paradise.  
Thanks for giving me the perfect place in which to write.  
And to my grandparents, for the inspiration. And, of   
course, to Atalanta de Lioncourt, who always has the time   
to boost my ego with her positivity. And to Mrs. Turcio,  
who thought I was diligently taking notes in her class,   
while I was really editing this.  
*****  
  
  
Chapter One- Chivalry isn't Dead   
  
"Davis, get your hands away from the centerpiece!"   
Yolei hissed. She slapped his arm as he reached across the   
table. "God, I can't believe I got stuck coming here with you."  
  
Davis shook her off, and slouched back into his chair.   
"Well, don't think you were my fist choice, either. Because   
you weren't!"  
  
She rolled her eyes. "I don't even know why I let you   
talk me into this. I mean, sure, it's a nice idea, but wake up!   
The fact that you're here with me will neither make anyone   
jealous, nor convince them that I'm actually interested in you."  
  
But Davis had stopped paying attention to her with   
the opening of the glass restaurant doors. TK walked in,   
Kari meekly clinging to his arm. He was dressed in a suit and   
tie, she wearing a flowery pink dress.   
  
As usual, they seemed completely wrapped up in each other's   
existence, oblivious to anyone else. The keepers of the crests of hope   
and light always created an aura around themselves, encasing them in a   
sort of protective bubble. Nothing around them could ever get through   
that shield they lived in. It made Davis sick.   
  
Yolei waved them over. "Sit down, no one else's here yet," she   
invited. Her tone, however, suggestive something else- "Please save me   
from this nightmare! Must... have.. better... company!"  
  
"Hi, guys," said TK. He pulled out the chair for Kari, and she   
sat down, blushing. "So, Yolei, did you and Davis come together?"  
  
Davis grabbed Yolei's hand, and glared at TK. "Yes we did, TQ.   
Yolei's my date tonight. Isn't that right-" he searched for a pet name,   
"lambkins?"  
  
Yolei glared at him, pulling away her hand. "Of course,   
mushbrains," she said, her lips drawn back into a painfully thin smile.  
  
Davis looked at the other couple, trying to gauge their   
reactions. Kari seemed mildly amused by the whole situation, and smiled   
sympathetically at Yolei. A strange expression passed across TK's face,   
and he could have sworn that he saw a twinge of envy. It was gone before   
he could be entirely sure, though. "That's nice," TK said hollowly.   
"May I take your coat, Kari?"  
  
"Why thank you, TK. How perfectly gentlemanly of you," she   
replied with an edge to her tone that was obviously meant for Davis.  
  
Davis snorted at the chivalrous gesture, determined not to let her   
bother him. He opened his mouth, perfectly prepared to counter   
brilliantly, but Yolei swiftly kicked him under the table. "Ouch!"   
he yelped. Not as brilliant as he had hoped.  
  
TK returned, and sat down next to Kari. Davis almost found   
his attempts to act unaffected funny, until he realized what they meant.   
Why would TK care that he and Yolei were an "item"? Davis caught him   
staring once, and met his gaze. TK just blushed, though, and looked   
down quickly at his hands.  
  
Kari tried to start a conversation. "Do you think Ken suspected   
anything? Davis, this idea of throwing him a surprise party to mark the   
end of his first month as a digidestined is really sweet."  
  
He beamed under her compliment. "Really, Kari? It is? I mean,   
of course it is! And I just knew you'd like it, you being so sweet   
yourself and all. I thought that Ken's come a long way since he was   
the Emperor. It couldn't have been easy for him, so I guess he deserved   
something for changing."  
  
"I don't think he'll really ever change," Cody said darkly,   
suddenly appearing at the table. He slid into a chair. "And I don't   
know how you guys can be so naïve to think he's different."  
  
"Hey, watch who you're calling nai- nai- Whatever!" Davis cried.   
Trust Cody to try and ruin a party. Honestly, the kid should go on   
Prozac, or something. "And Ken has too changed!"  
  
Kari frowned. "Cody, that's not a very nice thing to say.   
Especially tonight."  
  
"I'm sorry," he conceded. "But after all the terrible things   
the Kaiser did, how can you even consider accepting him as one of us?"  
  
"Cody, I think you're a little confused," TK said. "I agree   
when you say that we shouldn't trust the Kaiser. But we're not trusting   
him; we're trusting Ken. Ken Ichijouji and the Digimon Kaiser are two   
very different people. You can't blame one for the mistakes of the   
other."  
  
"Yeah," Yolei chimed in. "That's like blaming me for Davis's   
stupidity!"   
  
Davis glared at her, and half of him wanted to say something   
back. The other half silenced him, though. It really wasn't worth   
ruining the image of he and Yolei as a happy couple. Stick to the   
plan, he told his smarting pride, promising to get Yolei back later.   
In private.   
  
"Cody. This is a really special night for Ken. Promise to be   
civil?" Kari's eyes were kind, but Davis quickly picked up the hardness   
that lurked there, too. It was obviously in Cody's best interest to   
acquiesce.  
  
"I'll try," he said. Good depressing child. Looking around,   
he asked, "Where is everybody? I thought we were all supposed to get   
here at seven."  
  
"Oh, they'll be wandering in any minute," said Yolei. "Matt   
and Tai volunteered to pick Ken up at 7:15."  
  
"Wait- my brother's driving?" Kari asked, her face paler than   
normal.   
  
"Yeah?" Davis shrugged. "Tai's driven me loads of places-   
soccer games, the movies, soccer games, the mall. It's always an   
adventure!"  
  
Kari shook her head, not convinced. "Poor, poor Ken.   
I sure hope they get here in one piece."  
*****  
*** 


	2. Arrival

"The Dinner Party"  
By: Evangeline Henri  
  
Chapter 2: Arrival  
  
**  
  
"Tai, look out!" Matt shouted, trying to make   
himself heard over the pulsing stereo. He flinched as a   
truck came barreling at them, only to have Tai swerve at   
the last minute. "Jesus, are you trying to kill us?"  
  
"No comments from those without licenses because   
they failed their driving exams," Tai growled. "Anyway,   
you're just being a chicken. Ken doesn't mind my driving,   
do you?" He turned around to face the back seat.  
  
A blindfolded Ken gave a thumb's-up and a thin   
smile. "Sure, Tai," he said weakly.  
  
"Tai!" Matt screeched. "Watch the road!"  
  
Tai whirled around. He spun the steering wheel   
wildly, nearly hitting a telephone pole. He grinned. "Whoa,   
that was a close one."  
  
"Honey?" Matt looked warily out the window. "I   
think you missed the street."  
  
"Crap!" Not bothering to pull into a driveway   
or parking lot, Tai made a u-turn in the middle of the   
intersection. The other drivers, realizing they were dealing   
with a madman, quickly got out of his way. The error corrected,   
they sailed down the right street, the music burying the   
cacophony of honks and curses.   
  
"Um.... Tai? Matt?" Ken said meekly. "Can you   
tell me where we're going now?"  
  
"What?" Tai yelled. "I can't hear you!"  
  
"Can you tell me where we're going now?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"WHERE ARE WE GOING?"  
  
Matt clicked off the radio. "Sorry, dude, no can do.   
We're under express orders from Davis not to tell you."  
  
"Besides," Tai snickered. "Yolei'd beat the shit out   
of us if she found out that we ruined the surprise."  
  
"Oh," Ken said, crestfallen. "Well, I wouldn't want   
to get you guys in trouble with them."  
  
"I mean," Matt added quickly, "Davis, we could handle,   
easy. But Yolei.... That girl scares me."  
  
"I know what you mean." Ken gulped at the memory of   
staring down an enraged Yolei when he had been the Kaiser.   
Not one of his better days. "Can you at least remove the   
blindfold?"  
  
"I don't know." Matt thought for a moment. "Tai,   
what do you think?"  
  
"We probably shouldn't do anything that might incur   
the mighty she-demon's wrath."  
  
"Good point. But hey, we're here!"  
  
"We are?" Tai slammed on the brakes, and the car   
skidded to a halt in front of a small, up-scale restaurant.   
Everyone was thrown forward. Tai, now resting against the   
steering wheel, tilted his head to read the sign. Le Bel Oiseau.   
"Oh, yeah. We are!"  
  
"How do I look?" Matt ran a hand through his hair,   
preening himself in the rearview mirror.  
  
"Gorgeous," Tai murmured, surveying Matt's suit-clad   
body appreciatively.  
  
Matt smiled at him. "Here, lemme' fix your tie." He   
leaned over, and carefully redid it, all the while staring at Tai.  
  
"Thanks," Tai whispered, leaning in closer. He brushed   
lips with Matt, and...  
  
"You guys?" Ken called out. "Are you still there?"  
  
The two boys turned around, blushing. When they saw   
Ken, still blindfolded, groping around for the door handle,   
they burst out laughing. "Yeah, Ken, we're still here," Tai   
reassured him.  
  
Matt hopped out of the car. Walking around to Ken's   
door, he opened it. He reached for Ken's hand. "I'm right   
here, Ken. I'll help you out." He pulled Ken out of the car,   
catching him when he stumbled on the curb. He guided him onto   
the sidewalk, where Tai grabbed his other hand. Slowly, they   
brought him to the restaurant door. Winking at the doorman,   
they led him inside.  
  
"Alright, Ken," said Tai. "On the count of three, I'm   
going to take off your blindfold."   
  
Ken nodded.  
  
"One... Two..." The maitre'd flicked the lights on.   
"Three!" He pulled it off.  
*****  
  
"Surprise!"  
  
Ken's mouth dropped open. A huge white banner had been   
strung up over the dining area of a small, obviously upper-crust   
bistro. "Happy anniversary, Ken!" it proclaimed in big, bright   
letters. Underneath sat all the digidestined in a long banquet   
table, the older group at one end, and the younger digidestined   
at the other.  
  
"T-thank you, everyone," Ken stammered. In truth, their   
smiling faces made him a bit nauseous. They were all there to   
see him, and his first instinct was to run home and curl up in a   
corner somewhere. Did they really like him enough to throw a party   
in his honor? How could he have deserved their trust? Didn't they   
remember what he had done to them?  
  
"Well, go on." Matt nudged him. Somehow, it comforted   
him. "Sit down." He and Tai sat next to one another, and gestured   
for him to do the same.  
  
Ken looked back and forth between the two ends of the   
table. There were two seats open, one in each half.   
  
Intellectually, he knew that there was no question as to   
where he should sit. He belonged with the younger kids; they were   
the ones who really knew him. After all, they were the ones   
who had seen him in his darkest hours. And they were the ones,   
led by Davis, who had brought him back from that darkness. They   
were his closest friends.  
  
Sitting over there, though, would also mean sitting   
near Cody. It was not to say that the two of them were still   
hostile; through prodding by the others, they had come to a   
mutual realm of understanding. There was still standoffishness   
there, though; he still didn't feel anywhere near as comfortable   
with Cody as with the others. It seemed like, out of everyone,   
Cody had been the last one to forgive and the only one to not   
forget at all. He always seemed ready for Ken to turn back to   
evil; he seemed prepared for that as if it were an eventuality   
rather than a mere possibility. Cody frightened him.  
  
Fortunately, Kari somehow correctly read his hesitation   
and instantly understood his dilemma. She stood, and came up to   
him. "Ken, we'd be honored if you ate with us."  
  
He smiled gratefully, and followed her back to the table.   
  
"Hey, Ken," Yolei greeted cheerfully. "Here, sit at   
the head of the table, next to TK and Davis."  
  
Ken walked to his chair, and shyly took his seat.   
"Everybody, this was really nice of you, but I still don't   
understand what I've done to deserve it."  
  
"Like the banner says, it's been a month since you've   
joined us," said TK. "And we wanted to show you how proud of   
you we all are."  
  
"Truly a remarkable transformation," Izzy supplied   
from the foot of the table.  
  
"The party was all Davis' idea," said Sora. "He set   
the whole thing up."  
  
Ken turned to Davis, whose face had turned bright   
red. He matched his hair. "Davis, I've never had anyone do   
anything this nice for me."  
  
"We're friends, Ken," Davis mumbled, playing with his   
napkin and looking extremely uncomfortable.  
  
"All of us," Cody added.  
  
Ken glanced at him, and smiled. He looked down each   
side of the table- TK, Kari, Cody, Sora, Joe and Davis, Yolei,   
Mimi, Matt, Tai - and then at Izzy across from him. "All of   
us," Ken repeated.  
*****  
***  
  
[end chapter] 


	3. Trouble With The French Language

"The Dinner Party"  
By: Evangeline Henri  
  
Chapter 3: Trouble With The French Language  
  
**  
  
Davis squinted at the menu, bewildered. Although he   
tried his best to figure out what was being offered, he was   
completely lost. What did any of it mean? The letters   
didn't even look like real writing; it seemed as though a   
child had scribbled down random characters and fancied them   
words. He looked around, hoping he wasn't the only one having   
trouble, but everyone else seemed to be doing just fine. "I   
have no clue what any of this means!"  
  
Yolei sighed. "Hopeless! Utterly hopeless! First   
of all," she snapped, "you're holding the menu upside-down!"  
  
The table roared with laughter as Davis slumped down   
low in his chair. Thanks a lot, lambkins. "I knew that!" he   
cried, wishing he could escape. "I was just kidding, you guys!"  
  
"Need some help?" Ken asked.  
  
Mortified, Davis nodded.  
  
Ken scooted his chair around closer. "Let's have a look   
here." He bent closer to examine the righted menu. "Don't worry,   
Davis; it was in French."  
  
"Yeah, but he still had it upside-down." Apparently,   
Yolei was not going to let him forget this easily.   
  
"Ignore them," Ken said, and Davis realized that he   
really didn't care what they said. "Hmm.... 'Coq au Vin.'   
That's chicken in a wine sauce. And 'Canard Orange' is orange   
duck."  
  
Davis was well aware of how close he and Ken were   
sitting. How couldn't he have been? Sharing a menu, heads   
bent over it and nearly touching- none of this escaped him.   
He could smell the scent of Ken's shampoo. Raspberries.   
"Smells- I mean, sounds delicious, Ken."  
  
"Does it?" There was a small smile tugging at the   
corner of Ken's lips, as if he knew exactly to what Davis had   
accidentally referred.  
  
Davis blushed. Had he really been so obvious? He nodded.   
"Wonderful."  
  
"Thank you." Turning the page of the menu, Ken's knuckles   
brushed against Davis' fingers. He held his hand there for a   
moment, before dropping it to the side.  
  
"Let's tackle the pasta entrees, shall we?"  
  
Davis nodded. Suddenly, he found that he wasn't as hungry   
as he thought he was.  
*****  
  
Although Davis had hoped fervently that that last   
interlude had gone unobserved, such things rarely do. That   
little moment, so fresh in both his and Ken's mind, was currently   
burning in a third one- TK's. His face was painted by jealousy,   
which deepened every time that Davis glanced at Ken for a half-second.   
He savaged the napkin clutched in his hands, wringing it.  
  
Matt, removed by both age and by passion, had seen all.   
He nudged Tai. "Looks like we have quite the love triangle going   
on down there."  
  
"Ah, the emotional turmoil of youth," Tai said sagely.  
  
"How very wise of you."  
  
"TK, what's wrong?" Kari, a true child of light, had also   
noticed his unhappiness. "You have the strangest look on your face."  
  
"Oh, it's nothing, really." He tried to smile for her,   
tried to keep up whatever façade that he had been so successful   
with before. All his efforts failed utterly, though, when he saw   
Davis touch Ken's arm briefly.  
  
She gave him a puzzled grin. "Well, if you ever want to   
talk about anything, I'll always be willing to listen."  
  
TK smiled wanly.  
  
"I'm starving!" said Yolei. "I feel like I could eat   
every last thing on here!"   
  
Davis smirked, but visibly restrained himself when   
she shot him a murderous look. "Watch it, goggle boy!"  
  
As if trained to arrive at the moment when catastrophe   
seemed most imminent, the waiter bustled over. He loomed above   
the table, tall and thin with the curling mustache and haughty   
expression that waiters at French restaurants seemed to be born   
with. "Are we ready to order?" He sniffed.  
  
Everyone nodded his or her acquiescence, and the waiter went down   
the row. He nodded once or twice at a person's order, all the   
while scribbling in his little spiral-bound notebook.  
  
It was soon Davis' turn. "And for you, monsieur?"  
  
"I'd like the rabbit with raspberry sauce, please," he   
said haltingly.   
  
Ken smiled like a proud parent. "The same for me."  
  
The waiter nodded, then turned his icy gaze to TK. "And you?"  
  
"Um...." TK stammered. He had been so caught up in   
watching Ken and Davis that he had never even opened his menu.   
Now, he scanned it frantically, searching for a dish that he   
recognized. Nothing.   
  
Blah blah, blah... escargot... blah, blah blah...   
  
Escargot? Vaguely, he remembered hearing something   
about it in a foreign film in French class. Although he had been   
half-asleep at the time, there was something about the escargot   
dish that had resonated in his mind. But what could it have   
possibly been? Try as he might, TK couldn't recall what escargot   
was. He had always had trouble with the French language; it was   
never his strongest subject. All of those deathly boring classes   
with Mrs.(Beastly) Priestly had finally come back to haunt him.  
  
Everyone was staring at him, though. Twelve pairs of eyes.   
They were all staring, criticizing his inability to choose. And   
beneath those looks, everyone was laughing at him. Davis was   
even snickering into his hand at TK's plight, though Ken looked   
marginally sympathetic.  
  
It seemed as if escargot was his only option.  
  
Kari nudged him. "TK, the waiter needs your order."  
  
"The escargot," he said quickly, the words tumbling out   
of his mouth.  
  
"That's... all, monsieur?" TK nodded. The waiter opened   
his mouth, but clamped it shut again. "As you wish... monsieur."   
He moved on to Kari.   
  
When he had finished, the waiter gave a highly exaggerated   
bow, and then scurried away, muttering under his breath in French.  
  
"Hey, TK," Matt called. "Do you even know what escargot is?"  
  
"Of course I-" TK stopped. "No."  
"Snails, steamed and served in a garlic butter sauce," Izzy   
said, smacking his lips. "Delicious!"  
  
"You're kidding, right?"  
  
"'Fraid not," said Matt apologetically.  
  
A wave of nausea spread over TK. No wonder he had   
remembered what escargot was! He had managed to select the   
worst, most putrid item on the menu.  
  
"Dude, you ordered snails!" Davis cackled.  
  
Yolei glared at him. "Davis, can you do the entire human   
race a favor and try for like, five seconds, not to be such a   
cretin? It's not as if you wouldn't have done the exact same   
thing, or even worse, if Ken hadn't taken pity on your ignorance."  
  
"Yeah, Davis," Kari agreed. "Be a little nicer."  
  
"Sure, Kari, if you say so! I'll be so good that you won't   
even recognize me! I'll change my name to Saint Davis and move to   
India to help, like orphans and puppies and stuff," he gushed.   
  
TK winced. How could Davis be so patronizing to her?   
Didn't he see the glances that Ken was trying so hard to disguise?   
How could TK be the only one who had caught them all? How could   
he be so blind as to go after her, when Ken was right there?  
  
"That's better," said Kari, mollified. Testing her powers,   
she added, "And apologize to TK. He didn't deserve that."  
  
"Yes'm. Sorry TR," he spat, not looking his rival in the   
face.  
  
Cody tried to steer the conversation into safer waters.   
"So, Davis, who's watching the digimon while we're away?"  
  
"My sister, June."  
  
All conversation stopped. The party had been bustling   
on at a relatively nice tempo; each person had found a conversation   
in which they could actively participate (Except for Tai, that is,   
who had some how manage to stumble into Joe and Izzy's rousing   
discourse on the benefits of a free-trade agreement between   
industrialized and developing nations.) But as soon as Davis   
spoke, everything came to a crashing halt, with everyone gaping   
at him in horror. Matt let out what appeared to be a yelp of   
fear, and sat, frozen.  
  
Sora recovered first. "What could you have possibly   
been thinking?" she shouted.  
  
"I d-don't believe that was the most advisable of   
actions," Izzy sputtered.  
  
"Are you out of your mind, goggle boy?" Yolei chimed in.  
  
"Davis, your sister is even scarier than Yo-" Matt elbowed   
Tai, who stopped short, and whimpered. Fortunately for him,   
though, Yolei seemed too angry to notice.  
  
"Hey will everybody just relax?" Davis held up his   
hands. "I mean, sure, June's a stalker-" Matt nodded furiously   
at this, "and she can sometimes drive me crazy. But come on!   
She's my sister. I totally trust her."  
  
Ken looked at Davis, uncertainty clouding his features.   
"If you say she's trustworthy...." He paused for a moment, before   
reaching a conclusion. "Then I believe you. This may not seem   
like a very good idea to us, but we all know Davis would never   
do anything that would put Chibimon in danger."  
  
The others reluctantly grunted their assent, and slowly   
went back to their previous conversations, shaking their heads.  
  
"I still think his goggles are restricting blood flow   
to his brain," muttered Yolei.  
*****  
  
[end part 3] 


End file.
